'M' trio swim women's Open

With the Big Ten championships rapidly approaching, most of the Michigan women's swimming and diving members found themselves taking a long-awaited break this weekend.

For three Michigan swimmers, however, this past weekend was not one for rest. It was business as usual for junior Tanya Wenzel, sophomore Amy Fritsch and freshman Laura Sadler, all of whom swam at the Michigan Open.

The fact that there were only three Wolverines swimming there, however, it didn't mean the Open wasn't a heavily-attended meet.

With over than 100 high school and junior high swim clubs from Ohio, Indiana and Michigan present at Canham Natatorium, the pool was overflowing with swimmers. With that amount of participation, the Open was easily the longest the Wolverines have participated in this year.

MARGARET MYERS/Daily Shannon Shakespeare was relaxing at home instead of swimming in the Michigan Open, but she hopes to lead the Wolverines to a 12th-consecutive Big Ten crown.

"The meet ran really long," Michigan coach Jim Richardson said. "There were swimmers running around all over the place."

Unfortunately for the participating Wolverines, many of the younger swimmers finished with better times than the veteran Michigan swimmers.

Sadler finished the highest of the three, taking third in the 100 breaststroke and making the consolation round of the 100 butterfly and 100 freestyle.

Fritsch and Wenzel weren't as active as Sadler. They competed only in the morning preliminaries on Friday and Saturday.

Fritsch swam in the 50 free, 100 free and 100 backstroke, while Wenzel took part in the 200 free, 200 individual medley and 200 fly.

The meet was pretty insignificant for the team's preparation for Big Tens because the three swimmers aren't expected to make much of an impact. The meet, however, was invaluable to their confidence and preparation for next season and gives the swimmers an idea of what they have to work on in the offseason.

"This was an opportunity for swimmers to take a swim at the end of the season and try to match it with swims they had during the season," Richardson said.

The Michigan Open was also valuable to the team's future in a totally different way, as Richardson got a firsthand look at high school prospects and potential future Michigan swimming recruits.

While many of the top high school juniors and seniors in the area were not present this weekend, Richardson had his eye on possible top prospects in the junior high and early-high school levels. The Open has been a valuable tool for recruiting in the past.

"Lots of kids who come to our summer camps come here for this meet," Richardson said. "This meet is a good indicator of who we will recruit in the future."

02-16-98